Executive Director Barbara Veazey will retire from her 12-year career with the agency on December 20, 2013.  During her tenure, Veazey worked with the board of directors and agency team to relocate the offices to the present location at 244 Main Street in downtown Hereford, upgraded all outdated technology, worked with a professional web developer to create the agency’s website, established social media pages, and converted the agency’s databases to AIM, Agency Information Management unified electronic system as mandated by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.  “The conversion was quite a daunting process and extremely time-consuming,” recalled Veazey.  Now a year later, the agency staff is very comfortable with the system and readily asserts how helpful AIM is in their everyday work with children, families, and volunteers.

Veazey stated, “So as my position with Big Brothers Big Sisters comes to an end, I would like to thank our great community for its continued interest and vital financial support of our agency.  My affiliation with the agency has truly been an honor and a privilege.  My childhood mentor made a huge impact on me, so I can certainly relate to the importance this role has in the lives of our children.  It has been personally rewarding to see the many positive outcomes for the children enrolled in our programs.  We see things change and improve for them, and emerge transformed ourselves.”

Barbara and her husband, Mike, have been married for 13 years and have a two-year old Pomeranian, Lulu.  Mike is the General Manager at Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative.  Veazey shared, “My retirement plans include tackling a variety of projects.  I plan to reacquaint myself with my golf clubs, work on genealogy, hobbies, volunteer, travel, and devote more time to my home-based business with Thirty-One.”

Veazey declared, “We served 175 children last year in longer, stronger, more meaningful matches and had our best ever bowling fundraiser.”  Under Veazey’s leadership, Bowl for Kids’ Sake revenues increased by a noteworthy 89%.  She continued, “Big Brothers Big Sisters is poised to go forward into its 40th year on a strong foundation, due to several new funding opportunities and the Board’s succession plan for the new Executive Director.”